Awesome / WWE NXT

Whether both as a fake competition or with the "promotion within a promotion" format, NXT does not disappoint.

Head over here for the NXT TakeOver PPVs. And trust us, they're THAT awesome.

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Seasons 1-5

• The fallout of Season 1 gave us The Nexus.

NXT TV and house shows

• Being that NXT is toted as the hottest place to be in pro wrestling today, it's become an expected thing for notable wrestlers to make surprise debuts, and almost all of them are awesome, especially if they're already established names. To name a few:
  • James Storm only stuck around for two shows, but what a two shows they were. His debut in particular was impressive.
  • Solomon Crowe debuting to shut down CJ Parker's protest.
  • ECW legend Rhyno making his return to WWE.

• Finn Bálor's debut. Hideo Itami had already promised The Ascension that he would bring a friend after weeks of attempted one-on-two attacks that usually went against him. When Finn comes out, the crowd practically explodes... then Hideo and Finn proceed to SQUASH THE ASCENSION.
  • The crowd audio was actually dialed down so that the commentators could be heard over it, meaning that live it was even louder!
  • That YOU DONE MESSED UP NOW grin by Hideo before Finn's arrival!
• Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy going from jobbers to the tag team champions in two weeks. What makes this a really cool thing is the fact that Blake and Murphy had been seen increasingly gelling together as a team and proving their mettle for months against the teams that were getting the push, thus they come across as unexpected but not the least bit undeserving as winners and champions.
• Regal preceding over the contract signing for the Owens/Zayn grudge match. He announces before it starts that he won't let it turn out the way every other contract signing in WWE history has gone (i.e. starting out civilised and ending in a brawl), and to make sure of it, he tells Zayn and Owens that if either of them attacks the other, the match will be called off. And it works!
  • Owens making sure to defy Regal by throwing a pen at Zayn. He never actually touched him, so...
• Hideo Itami vs. Finn Balor had the fans chanting "This is awesome" and "We're not worthy" before they'd so much as thrown a punch.
• The NXT show in San Jose during WrestleMania Week on March 25, 2015 was this in spades. Though essentially a glorified house show, numerous internet photos and video showed the place was stuffed to the rafters with passionate fans. In addition to that, not only were the matches considered excellent... but Vince McMahon himself was watching. This is quite meaningful, as that means that he was a witness to Hideo Itami HITTING THE GTS. Yes, the same move popularized by a man who Vince wants to completely erase from WWE history.
• Kevin Owens calling out the Full Sail crowd on their blatant hypocrisy & entitlement by booing any mention of the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn special; pointing out that they say they love NXT & want it to grow, but don't want it to leave Full Sail because they don't want to have to watch the shows on the WWE Network like everyone else has had to. Even better: This seems to have actually worked, TakeOver: London has been met with nothing but cheers from the Full Sail crowd.
• Asuka's contract signing was interrupted by Emma and Dana Brooke, who proceeded to try to bully her out of the ring. At first it seemed like they'd successfully run Asuka off... and then she turned around to look at them. The speed at which the two go from smug to "I have made a huge mistake" is something to behold.
• Asuka taking the hit from a slap from Cameron and turning it into a flying armbar before she'd even hit the ground.
• On the January 13th edition, we got a women's battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship. The "someone hidden outside the ring" finish to battle royals has been done numerous times in WWE circles by now, and by the end, we thought we'd seen perennial Scrappy Eva Marie do this trick to put one over on fan-favorite Asuka, when suddenly, the other fan-favorite Carmella reappears herself and tosses Eva to win, prompting a massive reaction for Carmella's big moment.
• Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn's absolutely INSANE 2 out of 3 falls match for the NXT championship number one contendership that went for 43 minutes. This match wasn't just the main event of its NXT episode, by the way—it was the damn episode. It started with William Regal cutting a brief promo & hyping the three matches for the night, before starting Joe/Zayn. Then throughout the show, Tom Phillips & Corey Graves would talk up the other matches booked to occur later in the show, before ultimately announcing that the other matches have been pushed back to the following week's show, since they can't guarantee Zayn & Joe's match will be done in time. Joe won with the Coquina Clutch to face Finn Balor for the second time at Dallas.
• The Revival vs. American Alpha 2 out of 3 falls match on the 6/7 edition of NXT. Once again these teams put on an incredible match.
• July 13, 2016: The entire broadcast is dedicated to a showdown between two New Japan Pro-Wrestling alumni as Shinsuke Nakamura takes out Finn Balor in the Demon King's farewell match, as the King of Strong Style assumes the role of NXT's new face.
• On the November 30th episode, Samoa Joe boasts that Shinsuke Nakamura isn't in the same league as him. Tye Dillinger dares to challenge that and in a ballsy move, slaps Joe upside the face, provoking the wrath of an angry champion.
• January 25, 2017 has a confrontation between Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Asuka and Nikki Cross. All hell breaks loose when Asuka comes after the Aussies. Asuka and Nikki stare each other down until security tries to break them up, only for the two to clean house on them, leaving Billie and Peyton with a look of terror.
• For weeks, NXT had been torn apart by the all out war between Sanity, The Authors of Pain and The Undisputed Era. They would interfere in each other matches, brawl it out, tear it down and then Roderick Strong would throw in with the Authors to attack. After yet another massive brawl, William Regal takes the stage to announce that he's putting them all into a Triple Threat match. However, he says that there's only one match that can "contain this chaos"...a match so extreme that it hasn't been used in 20 years... And that TakeOver: Houston will now be named TakeOver: WAR GAMES.
• May 30, 2018: After Ricochet's match, The Velveteen Dream comes out to taunt him, saying that anything he can do, Dream can do better. Ricochet responds by jumping out of the ring and landing a perfect front flip that actually gets a Jaw Drop reaction from The Dream. Ricochet then defiantly replies to Dream, "Then show me", which becomes a variation of a Mic Drop as Dream drops his mic out of speechlessness.
• The hellacious match between Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) and The Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong) on an episode of NXT TV in July 2018. It displayed magnificent storytelling with O'Reilly and Strong brutally attacking and injuring Seven's knee to the point where Bate threw in the towel, allowing them to regain the NXT Tag Team Championship. The match was so praised that it earned the brand its fourth five-star match within six months.
• The September 19th, 2018 show was highlighted by the main event of North American Champion Ricochet and United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne going at it in a title vs title match. Just over twenty minutes long, it was a sensational battle that had the Full Sail crowd absolutely enthralled before The Undisputed Era attacked both men. The War Raiders saved them, in the process setting up the main event for NXT TakeOver: WarGames 2 but it was still an amazing classic fight as Ricochet and Dunne each put out their best against each other.
• During the 2018 Halloween episode, The Undisputed Era is doing a promo boasting of their greatness when the War Raiders attack them. Later in the show, the cameras reveal the teams are still fighting outside the Full Sail arena, smashing each other with garbage cans and such. Ricochet races out to fly off a table and attack the UE. The brawl heads to the ring with the Era getting the upper hand...only for Pete Dunne to show up with a chair and even up the odds. That brings out William Regal who says if these eight want to rip each other apart they can...in War Games.
• The December 12th, 2018 show had Ricochet defending the North American title against a mystery opponent...who turned out to be a returning Tyler Breeze. It was easily Breeze's best match since leaving NXT to remind folks of his talent.
• The February 20th, 2019 show was headlined by a fantastic main event as, in a thrilling twenty-minute plus bout, The Velveteen Dream finally reached the next level by defeating Johnny Gargano for the North American title.
• February 27, 2019 had a great, if short, match between the Acrofatic Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. Both men basically broke the laws of physics. Their rematches were even better.
• May 22, 2019: After Shayna Baszler (accompanied by Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir) attempted to perform another beatdown on Candice LeRae, Io Shirai made the save by beating the hell out of the former three with a kendo stick.
• The June 26, 2019 edition had a fantastic steel cage match between Io Shirai and Shayna Baszler. For nearly 15 minutes, the two beat the unholy hell out of each other, putting on arguably the best women's match of the year up to that point.
• The brand's debut on the USA Network was highlighted by Triple H showing up in person to do a fantastic speech on the company and how they were ready to take the next step.
  • Later, Roderick Strong "fulfilled the prophecy" by beating Velveteen Dream for the North American title, allowing the Undisputed Era to hold all three men's NXT titles.
• October 2nd, 2019: NXT fully transitions to USA with both hours on the channel. And it has some pretty awesome moments:
  • The opening contest is for the NXT Championship. Adam Cole taking on Matt Riddle. Despite having an injured hand in a cast, Cole doesn't back down against the Original Bro, and the pair go on to have a 20 minute classic with plenty of near falls. With Cole's hand, it seemed like all was lost for the Panama City Playboy, but it actually worked in his favor. With a cheap shot with his cast, Cole was able to knock Riddle through a loop, allowing him to hit the Last Shot and keep the Undisputed Era's prophecy intact.
    • Though Cole doesn't have long to celebrate as "Catch Your Breath" plays, and the crowd goes APESHIT for a returning Finn Balor! Who then says "Finn Balor is N.X.T!"
  • Johnny Gargano shows his Rebel Heart yet again and proves why he is NXT 4 Lyfe by putting on a clinic with Shane Thorne. In spite of what many would've assumed, Thorne proves he can go with the best of them in singles action, giving Johnny Wrestling a run for his money. However, it isn't enough to keep the first ever NXT Triple Crown winner down, and Gargano seals the deal with a superkick.
  • The main event: Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly of the Undisputed Era taking on the Street Profits for the NXT Tag Team Championship. Both teams give it their all, with Street Profits fighting hard to regain the titles. In the end, with a distraction from Roderick Strong, UE picks up the win to keep the Prophecy of Gold going. The four men celebrate until...
    • A familiar heart monitor is heard, until it flatlines, followed by the cry of "NO ONE WILL SURVIVE!" That's right, Tommaso Ciampa is back! And he's got his sights set on Adam Cole's NXT Championship!
• October 30th, 2019: Throughout September to October 2019, the women's division of NXT is in utter chaos and everyone wants a shot for the NXT Women's Championship, ranging from Shayna's old victims (Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, Bianca Belair and Io Shirai) to the returning Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox, and even former inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion Rhea Ripley. In this episode, after Tegan and Dakota's match against the Kabuki Warriors, Shayna and her posse enter to do what they do best. Rhea comes in to make the save only to be blind sided by Io and Bianca. Candice also arrives and all nine women duked it out with each other until security separates the faces from the heels. Taking matter into his hands, General Manager William Regal decides to settle this having Rhea and Shayna to form their own teams of four in the first ever women's...WARGAMES!!
  • Later on, after the main event tag team match between UE's Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly and Keith Lee & Matt Riddle, the faction then beat up on the two after their interference win. Out comes Tommaso Ciampa with a crutch to even the odds. They force UE out of the ring. Seeing the NXT Championship by the corner of the ring, Ciampa moves to grab it, only to stop. And then Ciampa says, "Goldie...you're gonna have to wait. DADDY'S GOING TO WAR!" A second WarGames match was all but confirmed, and the pure looks of shock at UE's faces were priceless.
• The November 20th episode began with Becky Lynch making a surprise return to Full Sail and challenging Shayna. Instead, Rhea Ripley comes out, giving fans a dream battle of the inaugural NXT UK Women's champion and the Man.
  • Later, a massive brawl breaks out between the NXT, RAW and Smackdown women's rosters. The last one left standing? Nikki Cross laughing her head off.
• On the December 18th episode, Rhea Ripley managed to do what no woman in the division (except Kairi Sane) had managed to do in 548 days: beat Shayna Baszler clean. From Mia Yim to Bianca Belair to Candice LeRae to Io Shirai... all of them failed, but Rhea hit her Riptide from the second rope and put an end to "Shayna Two-Time".
• Nigel Mc Guiness eating a big piece of Humble Pie following GYV's loss to The Broserweights in the Dusty Rhodes' tag team classic finals.
• The closing moments of the March 10, 2021 episode had two awesome moments in quick succession:
  • Kyle O'Reilly going HAM on Adam Cole for his betrayal at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. It took an entire team of referees just to hold Kyle back from murdering Cole on the spot.
  • NXT Champion Finn Bálor's One-Liner response to Karrion Kross's Stealth Hi/Bye appearance: "What took you so long?"
• The June 15, 2021 episode opens with William Regal making good on his promise to restore order in NXT by bringing back none other than Samoa Joe (who mind you was released unceremoniously after WrestleMania 37), first offering him the role of GM before settling for him being the enforcer and making his authority known by getting in Champion Karrion Kross' face and telling him "What are you still doing in this ring?" all without an ounce of fear.
  • Later that night, he makes good on his promise to lay down the law by putting out Adam Cole after the latter shoved him, thus invoking Regal's "No contact unless provoked" rule and choking him out in seconds. Safe to say that even if he can't wrestle yet, the roster best stay in line or Joe is gonna kill you.
  • Kacy's amazing 450 Splash to Dakota Kai on the same episode during a tag team match.
• During a match between newcomer Sol Ruca and Valentina Feroz, Sol Ruca would pull out an imploding cutter to get her the win. It was so unbelievable that the LVLUP crowd (which was notable for their lack of any sort of reaction), very audibly popped, and it pushed Sol Ruca straight into Ensemble Dark Horse territory.
• During a matchup between Julius Creed and Veer Mahaan, Julius went for a gutwrench powerbomb, but Veer's arm was caught behind him, which pretty much resulted in Veer being unable to get up for the powerbomb. Instead of ditching the move or just taking a risk and dropping Veer, Julius repped Veer into that powerbomb. Yes, Julius literally repped a 275 pound man like it was nothing.
• After weeks of being goaded by Grayson Waller, Shawn Michaels refuses his challenge to get back into the ring by pointing out that he's been asked for a WrestleMania match every year since he retired and Grayson is just the guy doing it in 2023 - but he does have an opponent for Grayson to face... Johnny Gargano, returning to NXT to get some payback on the man who ruined his farewell from the brand a year and a half earlier.

Other

• On the September 8 2014 edition of RAW, the fans were treated to an impromptu tag match of Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd against Sami Zayn and NXT champion Adrian Neville. These four guys proceeded to steal the freaking show, considering:
  1. Most mainstream WWE fans aren't automatically aware of NXT's players.
  2. This was the notorious "Jerry Springer and the Bella Twins" RAW, which essentially killed the crowd dead.
  3. They were promoting the WWE Network-only PPV NXT TakeOver II, so the stakes were obscenely high.
  • The main highlight? Adrian Neville getting the hot tag and reminding every fan why he's called The Man Who Gravity Forgot. The crowd exploded when he hit the Red Arrow.
• After Sami Zayn takes up John Cena's US Title challenge and fails, a few weeks later, Kevin Owens suddenly appears on Raw... and doesn't take up Cena's challenge. Instead, he flatly tells Cena that he's not interested in the US Title because he values the NXT Title more, that while they will fight one day, it'll be on Owens' terms, not Cena's, shuts down Cena's attempt to give him a condescending speech by pointing out that Owens has actually wrestled longer than Cena has, and to top it all off, he gives Cena a pop-up powerbomb and steps on the US Title like it's trash. Hell of a way to introduce yourself.
• Elimination Chamber 2015 would follow WrestleMania as a main roster pay-per-view with an NXT milestone when Kevin Owens, in his first match on WWE mainline programming, became the first man to win a main roster pay-per-view singles match as the reigning NXT Champion, and he did so by CLEANLY DEFEATING JOHN CENA.
• The sheer fact that Tommaso Ciampa is so committed to his heel persona that he's asked WWE not to sell merchandise of him, even though he's missing out on income by doing so.
• WWE Evolution was, as its first all-female PPV, an historical event. But it also marked the first time an NXT title is defended on a main roster PPV. Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler came as NXT Women's Champion and challenger respectively, and what ensued next was a very entertaining bout which ended with Baszler's stablemates Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir distracting Sane so Baszler could become the first two-time NXT Women's Champion.
• With the Super Bowl coming up, how does Triple H decide to try and compete against them? Why revive Halftime Heat and put six of his very best guys (Ricochet, Aleister Black and The Velveteen Dream vs. Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa and Adam Cole) in a tag team match of course! Despite clocking in at barely over 16 minutes, it still delivered and then some, with many agreeing it was worth watching over the actual Halftime Show, no hyperbole.
• November 1st, 2019. A majority of the main roster is stuck in Saudi Arabia due to mechanical difficulties after Crown Jewel, and only a handful of wrestlers are left to run the Smackdown show. So what does WWE do? Bring in the NXT roster and send a message.
  • NXT Women's Champion Shayna Bayzler runs in after the match between Bayley and Nikki Cross, taking out Sasha Banks before brutalizing Bayley, and firing the first shot of the night.
  • Matt Riddle and Keith Lee deliver a Bro Derrick and Moonsault respectively on a hapless Sami Zayn.
  • In a match nobody knew they wanted until they got it, The Miz goes up against Tommaso Ciampa in a clinic of a match that ends with Miz attempting a top-rope move, but countered by Ciampa delivering a wicked knee in mid-air followed by the Fairy-Tale Ending. Their brief war of words before the match was pretty epic as well, with both sides showcasing their charisma and eloquence.
  • Daniel Bryan is prowling backstage. He finds Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and challenges the Big H to a fight. Trips says he doesn't have his ring gear, but he does know someone who is ready to fight. It's not Shawn Michaels. It's NXT Champion Adam Cole BAY BAY, and The American Dragon challenges The Panama City Playboy for the NXT Championship.
    • That sound you just heard was a few dozen million Smarks violently orgasming.
  • Bianca Belair single-handedly destroys Dana Brooke and Carmella backstage, before Rhea Ripley and Tegan Nox go on to face their intended opponents, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, once again easily brutalizing the Smackdown stars (are you sensing a pattern here?), with Rhea picking up a victory with her modified standing cloverleaf submission on Rose.
  • And finally, the dream match everyone thought was impossible just a few short years ago, the main event between Daniel Bryan and Adam Cole. Two former indie stars from different generations. They have never met before, but they work an absolutely balls-to-the-wall match, with Bryan putting on numerous submission holds on pretty much every limb on Adam Cole, but Cole never taps out. Finally, Cole counters Bryan's charge with a superkick, Panama Sunrise, Last Shot to the back of the head, and ADAM COLE SCORES A CLEAN PINFALL ON DANIEL FREAKIN' BRYAN.
    • This is a prestigious victory not just for Cole, but for the NXT Championship, having not just beaten a beloved multiple time World Champion, but what many consider to be the best technical wrestler ALIVE. (as opposed to, y'know, John Cena)
• The invasion continues on the following RAW on 4th November, with the OC staring down the Undisputed Era, followed by a run-in by Dominik Dijakovic on the OC, and the UE piling on before the RAW roster runs in to break it up.
  • Then Seth Rollins challenges Adam Cole for the NXT Title. What.
  • Shayna Bayzler later has a face-to-face with RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch, and setting up a three way match at Survivor Series between all three Women's Champions on RAW, Smackdown, and NXT.
  • And later, it's announced that Survivor Series will also feature a three-way tag-team bout between The Viking Raiders, The Revival, and The Undisputed Era. Talk about dream matches.
  • The main event between Seth Rollins and Adam Cole is once again another barnburner, although it gets interrupted by another brawl between the NXT and RAW rosters before it can conclude properly.
  • It must be said that in the space of less than a week, Adam Cole has defended his NXT title twice against some of the most respected champions in the world. He has done more in four days than the likes of Brock Lesnar has done in months.
• As of the Royal Rumble 2023, majority of winners since 2018 have been NXT prominent Alumnis and even champions. From the Women's, Asuka (2018), Becky Lynch (2019), Charlotte Flair (2020), Bianca Belair (2021), and Rhea Ripley (2023) while the Men's were Shinsuke Nakamura (2018), Seth Rollins (2019) and Drew McIntyre (2020). NXT truly is the breeding ground for the next top stars.
  • Speaking of which, this really needs to be pointed out. In the 2020 Women's Royal Rumble Match, Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler, both from NXT, tied the elimination record for the Women's Royal Rumble at 8, which means that they eliminated 16 other competitors between them. In other words, these two NXT stars, by themselves, eliminated HALF OF THE ROYAL RUMBLE COMPETITORS! Just let that sink in for a moment.
• By all accounts, Beast In The East was a glorified house show to promote Brock Lesnar's appearance in Japan. However, that show also featured Finn Balor finally defeating Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship, stealing the show in the process.
• One needs to point out NXT's showing at Survivor Series 2019, the first Survivor Series where NXT would be competing against Raw and Smackdown. NXT went into Survivor Series seen as the underdogs, and in the end they had more wins than Raw and Smackdown combined, with their 4 to Raw's 1 and Smackdown's 2.
  • Special mention goes to the 5 on 5 on 5 women's elimination match, which NXT won. Keep in mind that just 24 hours prior to this, four of the five members of Team NXT were involved in a brutal War Games match.
    • On a related note, Shayna Baszler was also involved in the above-mentioned War Games match and was even the one that got pinned. She was in the Survivor Series main event against both Smackdown Women's Champion Bayley and Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch. And she WON!

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